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An Age Grouper Makes Good on a Childhood Promise

Frenchman Arnaud Winter set his sights on Kona years ago, and will toe the start line in honor of two precious family members.

by Gaylia Osterlund

Most triathletes can tell you the moment they knew IRONMAN was in their future. Many share the same story of watching Julie Moss crawl towards the finish line only to be passed by Kathleen McCartney in the finishing chute. For Frenchman Arnaud Winter, the moment came in the form of a promise to Jacques, his favorite uncle.

"Every kid in every family has an adult who seems to be a little bit cooler than the others, a little bit more on your side," Winter says. "Uncle Jacques was that uncle."

Winter would spend every summer in the south of France with his Uncle Jacques, having long discussions about the Tour de France, Formula 1 Racing and any other sport that showed up on the cover of French sporting newspaper L’Equipe.

"Sport was his world even though he barely practiced even one," Winter says. "The back row of his car was always covered with at least a ten-inch thick layer of L'Equipe. He could talk about any sport from tennis to boxing, even curling. I owe him my discovery of sport."

When Winter was just 16 years old, he spotted a picture of Mark Allen on the front page of one of the newspapers in the back of his uncle's car. He started asking questions. His uncle regaled the boy with tales of how good Allen was—how he had won every race but could not figure out one crazy event in Hawaii called the IRONMAN. He told Winter that there were people on that island who would swim for 4 km, bike for 180 km and then run a marathon in one single day without stopping.

"It just blew my mind, and I told myself that one day, I would do the IRONMAN," Winter says. He tucked the idea away, unmentioned, for many years.

A few years later Winter’s favorite uncle fell ill to stomach cancer and spent 15 years battling the disease. He spent almost every night in the hospital receiving treatment so he could be back in the morning to spend the day with his little girl.

After Jacques passed away, Winter often found himself asking, "What would Uncle Jacques do?" He started entering shorter-distance triathlons, though not consciously preparing to fulfill the promise he'd made years before. That changed six years ago with the birth of his youngest son, Nicolas, diagnosed at birth with a life-threatening heart condition.

Nicolas's two main arteries were reversed and he could not bring oxygen to his body. At three weeks, he underwent a 10 hour, successful open-heart surgery. "Even as tiny as he was, we were amazed by his strength and will always remember the wonderful smile he gave us as we handed him to the doctor the morning of the surgery," Winter recalls.

A year later, Winter signed up for his first IRONMAN, in Cozumel. If his three-week old baby could fight so hard, he reasoned, there was no reason for him not to reach the finish line.

This year, Winter will realize that long-buried goal as part of the Kona Lottery program. He's quick to acknowledge the "lucky star" that allowed him one of the spots to the race and says that while racing, he'll honor the amazing doctors and nurses who saved his son's life by raising money for the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital's cardiac center.

"This is my way to share Nicolas' wonderful story, and help by giving other children the living chance that was offered to my son," he says.

He will also honor his favorite Uncle Jacques and his fight to live. Making it a busy, poignant day for one man in the lava fields.